WASHINGTON -- How serious is U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown's bid for the U.S. Senate? Depends on whom you ask.

The Jacksonville Democrat, whose district includes parts of Volusia, Seminole and Orange counties, announced this week an "exploratory committee" to gauge whether she should run in 2010 for the seat being vacated by Mel Martinez, R-Orlando. The sometimes-bombastic lawmaker said in an interview that she is the "strongest, best-liked and hardest-working [candidate] throughout the state."

But party officials are skeptical, noting that Brown did little to garner the support of top Democrats beforehand. And if she did run, Brown would face primary opposition from U.S. Rep Kendrick Meek -- a Miami Democrat who started his campaign months ago, has already locked down the support of much of the state's organized-labor unions and has raised about $1.5 million.

Brown, who was first elected to Congress in 1992, has about $81,000 in the bank, according to federal election records. She said she'll make a decision in the next six months.

"Kendrick has such a head start that it's going to be a tough task for her to catch up," said state Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, adding that a contentious and expensive primary would make it "more difficult" for a Democrat to win the seat. "If you split the support that way, it increases Gov. [Charlie] Crist's chances of ultimately being the senator," she said.

Crist, the state's popular Republican governor, announced his candidacy last month and faces a GOP primary challenge from former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. Meek, meanwhile, has been busy campaigning across the state.

"We haven't done any polling with Corrine Brown. Honestly, I'm not trying to spin you. We haven't even had one sit-down conversation about what our response should be," said Adam Sharon, a Meek spokesman.

Brown said her internal polling shows her tied with Meek in a primary. And she said the poll shows her getting strong support among black voters; both she and Meek are African-American.

She did not release the poll.

Black voters comprise about 1.2 million of the 4.7 million registered Democrats in Florida, according to the state Division of Elections.